Reckitt’s turnaround has hit a hurdle, as growth in its Core Reckitt brands slowed sharply to 1.3%.
Low rates of cold and flu, “ongoing challenges” in Europe, and geopolitical disruptions took their toll on sales of Reckitt’s most important brands.
‘Core Reckitt’, made up of the company’s 11 ‘power brands’, took £2.6bn in revenue in the quarter to 31 March. Its 1.3% like-for-like growth represented a steep deceleration after it achieved growth of more than 5% in 2025.
In Europe, like-for-like net revenue declined 4.2%, as a “weak” cold and flu season drove a double-digit decline in seasonal over-the-counter products’ net revenues.
Reckitt’s emerging markets division was likewise hit by an unexpected 200bp headwind, as it was struck by “changes to international sanctions” impacting its Russian businesses.
Combined with foreign exchange headwinds, the group’s reported revenues sank 11.8% in the quarter to hit £3.2bn. On a like-for-like basis, that translated to 0.6% growth.
Despite the tough season, Reckitt maintained guidance for 4% to 5% like-for-like sales growth in its core brands’ full-year results.
“Whilst acknowledging the current uncertainty arising from the war in the Middle East, through 2026 we expect to benefit from the reset of the cold and flu season, as well as the launch of superior innovations across our categories,” the company told investors.
Among its non-core businesses, Reckitt’s Mead Johnson infant nutrition business was hit by a 6.8% decline in volumes, resulting in a 2.7% drop in like-for-like sales
Reckitt has been weighing up its options for Mead Johnson, with Danone reportedly among companies considering a bid.
Bernstein analyst David Hayes called the results “a messy set of numbers”.
“There is an avalanche of additional discussion around potential impact and sensitivities from the Iran war and its knock-on impact on commodity prices, as well as a good deal of discussion around the puts and takes on 2Q growth.
“On net, we expect that investors will have questions around the drivers of growth acceleration through the balance of the year, and the company’s ability to hit the guide in view of unexpected Russian headwinds.”
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